As a neophyte nurse I remember taking care of an elderly man who had
had a stroke and who swore "like a sailor" but otherwise was mute. His
family insisted that he had never used swear words before his stroke. The
neurologist treating him told the family that swear words are stored
in a more primitive part of the brain and so were not eliminated by the
stroke...I never knew if this was so or if he was just trying to make the
family feel better. But I have noticed that it is not uncommon for stroke
patients to swear when they have no other speech.

From: John Richardson (rubrick.illumus gmail.com)
Subject: coprolalia

Being an Irishman from Dublin I knew the definition for this word
before I read it. Much has been commented on our use of obscenities in
everyday language, both by domestic journalists and foreign visitors
to the island. Obscenities are used for emphasis (usually positive)
in normal conversation and rarely taken as obscene unless directed at an
individual (when it then becomes negative). James Joyce himself was a known
coprolaligist and it is never uncommon to hear his modern equivalents use
the 'purple' language. Irish people don't have Tourette's (in general),
but the use of obscenities is instilled in us from an early age and we
become accustomed to it, although it frequently shocks tourists who aren't
prepared for a bit of Irish 'culture' not found in any guide books!

From: Gidi Arbel (gidi.arbel gmail.com)
Subject: coprolite

No names in this story. A way to honor a geologist is to name a newly found
fossil after him. Further investigation proved one such tribute to be a
coprolite -- fossilized feces.

How to inform a distinguished Swiss academician, the nature of his namesake?
The solution: dine and wine him and break the news while he is drunk. Done.

In the Disc World of Terry Pratchett's novels, trolls are made of stone. When
one troll wants to call another troll a bad name (or in current street usage
"disrespect him"), he would use the word coprolite. It didn't occur to me
until seeing today's word that coprolite is petrified feces.

I think the definition of coprolalia should be extended to include the
current phenomenon of one prominent media person "talking trash" or "talking
smack" or "talking... dung" about another prominent media person. Sports
competitors seem to do it all the time. It's part of the promotion for the
coming event. It is especially true when the event resembles a fight. Members
of the British Parliament, bridge players, and chess players for instance,
are notorious for it as are ballroom dancers.

From: Walter Reed (wlreed emory.edu)
Subject: coprolalia

Or as Caliban says to Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest, "You taught
me language, and my profit on't/Is, I know how to curse."

From: Grant Agnew (gtwa homemail.com.au)
Subject: Copr+ words

Don't forget the Byzantine emperor named after it - Constantine
Copronymos. Supposedly after a little accident at his baptism?

When my children were growing up, we called this "potty mouth", and the
offender was warned, that if it continued, he (very seldom she) would have
his mouth washed out with soap. I never had to, the threat was usually
enough. Though come to think of it, once my 15-year old daughter swore
at me, and I picked her up and dumped her, clothes and all, in a bathtub
that was filling with water... It did work, no more coprolalia, at least
not in my hearing.

From: Al Hodges (mah92019 yahoo.com)
Subject: coprolalia

Koko, the gorilla, in a moment of anger, called her curator a "shit"
in sign language.
Are we far apart?

I come from a long line of artful rockhounds. When I was younger, my mother
would point out stromatolites, lumpy fossils left by layers of bacteria,
and tell me they were coprolites. Being a wise, know-it-all teenager,
I knew better than to fall for the ruse. Even so, she still grossed me out.

From: Ben Newling (bnewling unb.ca)
Subject: Coprolalia

Thank you for this week's filthy words. A shared etymology reminded me
of coprophagy, which I am afraid used to amuse me and my brothers (a long
while ago now). Some animals (rabbits and a few rodents, for example)
require more than one attempt in order to extract *all* the nutrients from
their food.

From: Richard Novick (novick saturn.med.nyu.edu)
Subject: copro

An interesting, but less familiar application of the root "copro" is
Coprinus, a mushroom genus that
gets its name from the remarkable coprophilia of some of its members,
which are avid coprophagics.

When we were young(er), our parents often used to take us on hikes up Mt
Scoria, always armed with an array of cutlery. Once at the summit we would
then scramble around, tapping away incessantly with fork and teaspoon,
until amongst the vast array of cinder blocks we found the right notes for
our tribal orchestra. The afternoon was then spent belting out a myriad of
tunes, which of course would always include at least one rendition of Jimmy
Buffett's "Volcano". It leaves me wondering though... given events in Iceland
earlier this year... perhaps it wasn't the best idea to be chanting from
a mountain top: "I don't know where I'm a-gonna go when the volcano blow"!?!

From: Harley Henry (harleyhen bellsouth.net)
Subject: slag

Ah. As a grade schooler growing up in Brownsville, Pennsylvania during
the 1940s, I remember the wonder of seeing the huge, high, glowing slag
heaps when driving home at night from trips to Pittsburgh. It seemed like
our own Monongahela valley Vesuvius.

From: Karen Black (kblack steelart.com)
Subject: scoria

I was reading the etymology of this word and was shocked and then
laughed because this word was originally from the word skor which
means dung. Hershey's makes a delicious chocolate toffee bar named SKOR.
Thank you for the afternoon giggle.

I was in a town in Alaska last year where one of the major enterprises was
scatology. The town was a center for jewelry and small sculpture pieces such
a nativity scenes and chess sets carved from moose scat.

From: Steve Harper (sharper11 nc.rr.com)
Subject: Scatology

There is a chain of burger restaurants in North Carolina (and maybe
elsewhere) called Skats. I once asked a friend where she was going to have
lunch and she replied, "I'm going to have a Skatburger." I knew she was
a nature lover and asked her if she knew what "scat" meant. She said she
did but had never put the two together.

From: Marty Smith (marty.smith l-3com.com)
Subject: scatology

We used to say, "At the end of the world, everything will turn to a steaming
pile", which of course is the perfect scatological, eschatological comment.

From: Dr Rick Rickards (docrick petalk.com)
Subject: Scatology

I wonder how many have pondered about the similarity between the words
Scatology and Eschatology? I know they are not related. I used to say that
religion is like sausage, no matter how thin you slice it, it is still
baloney! Someone once asked me if I thought that there was Order in the
Universe? I see it everywhere I replied, except I spell it Ordure!

From: Frida Eidelman (frida ecen.com)
Subject: scatology

In Portuguese/Spanish escatologia is part of theology and philosophy
that deals with the last events in the history of the world or the final
destiny of humanity.

There is a scatological diaper commercial running on TV, and it is a
strain to endure. In my opinion, it totally misses its aim at humor,
with its toilet puns and in its attempt to make a toddler boy look hip
in his diaper of denim. Finally, I would gain considerable relief if this
particular ad were soon flushed out of my TV-viewing realm. (Aw done!)

This was quite a surprise, since in Brazilian Portuguese fecula means
starch, starchy, referring mainly to the starch in the cassava roots. And
it is available at a supermarket under this name!

From: Béatrice Palau (beatrice_palau yahoo.co.uk)
Subject: Feculent

Another false friend I didn't know of! In French féculent means "starchy
food" like potatoes for instance and doesn't have any filthy connotation
to it. I'd better tell my students about it :) (I'm from Belgium)

From: Jim Mead (meadsthree aol.com)
Subject: Clean-up

OK, guys... everybody to the showers! Been a tough week wallowing in
all that crud, so let's get washed up and find a Fourth of July parade
nearby where we can renew our salute to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness, and cleanliness, too.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There is no more irritating fellow than the man who tries to settle an
argument about communism, or justice, or liberty, by quoting from Webster.
-Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator, and author (1902-2001)